Keep your listeners interested in your music with… pictures!

This got me wondering about all the different kinds of photos bands are sharing with their fans (on Instagram, and elsewhere).

Pictures are super important online (which I’m sure is no big revelation to you). They convey a ton of information and feeling in a tiny amount of time. So they’re one of the best tools you have for getting people interested in your world (and your music), and probably THE best tool besides the music itself for KEEPING fans interested.

When someone loves your music, they want to get a glimpse into many different aspects of your creative life. So give it to them.

Here are just some of the many kind of pictures you can share with your fans:

1. shots of you performing live (or of other bands performing)

2. press photos

3. pictures of you during sound check, backstage, or of your band name on the marquee outside the club before the show

4. album covers

5. concert posters

6. “gear porn” (photos of your instruments, microphones, etc.)

7. scenes from tour (a sunset, a favorite food cart, etc.)

8. behind the scenes shots (of your band during a late-night writing session, shooting a music video, setting up equipment at your practice space, etc.)

10. fan photos and crowd shots (pictures you take of them, and pictures they take of you)

11. photos of your band recording

12. new merch items

13. a shot of you eating Taco Bell in the tour van

14. a creepy closeup of you licking the envelopes before you mail off your press packages

15. in-studio shots during an interview at a radio station

16. screenshot of your website (when newly designed)

17. picture of a positive review on a blog or in a print publication

18. band logos

19. a picture of a college radio chart with your band’s song highlighted in yellow

20. something that captures the mundane, blah, routine, bookkeeping or busywork behind making music

You get the point: ANYTHING that is related to your music-making endeavors, get it on camera!

You don’t always have to post something online, but at least you’ll have options. Go through the camera roll on your phone once you’ve finished shooting pictures and if there’s anything that looks interesting, fun, mysterious, or crazy — share it!

And now, when you publish a photo on Instagram, it’ll automatically appear on your HostBaby website.

For some more tips on using Instagram to promote your music, check out:

In this article

... is the Editor of CD Baby's DIY Musician Blog. I write Beatlesque indie-pop songs that've been praised by No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, & others. My poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, & more. I live in Maine and like peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, a little too much.